Jimmy "Orion" Ellis
Jimmy Ellis (born February 26, 1945 - died December 12,1998) was born in Orrville, Alabama on February 26th of 1945. The music industry is filled with many strange tales of artists whose lives took unexpected turns on the winding road to success, but the saga of singer Jimmy Ellis is perhaps one of the weirdest of them all. He was professionally known as Orion, and his double-edged claim to fame was that his natural speaking and singing voice sounded almost exactly like that of Presley. Ellis hailed from Orrville, Alabama and began his recording career in 1964. In 1972, he worked for Sun Records (Presley's label) with producer Shelby Singleton in Nashville. His first two singles were covers of two of the King's former hits, "That's All Right" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Life as "Orion" Shelby Singleton of Sun International decided to disguise Ellis' identity on his first Sun single, "That's All Right (Mama)"/"Blue Moon of Kentucky" (Sun 1129), leaving listeners to speculate that the songs might be alternate takes of Elvis' first first two songs. Instead of listing Ellis' first album on the label, Singleton printed a question mark. Ellis first album appearance for Sun was as an unidentified singer singing duet with Jerry Lee Lewis on ten tracks of the 1978 album Duets (Sun 1011). Charlie Rich sang along with Lewis on two other songs. Again, the speculation was that Elvis had sung on the songs, particularly "Save the Last Dance for Me". In 1979 Jimmy Ellis finally merged with an identity, but it still wasn't himself. He appeared as Orion Eckley Darnell, the character created August 16, 1977, by a Marietta Georgia, housewife Gail Brewer-Giorgo. Her 1978 novel Orion told the story of a rock and roll singer, very much like Elvis, who faked his own death. On Orion's 1979 debut album, Reborn (Sun 1912). Ellis appeared on the album cover wearing a mask over his eyes. The album featured some excellent songs including "Ebony Eyes", "Honey", and "Washing Machine". They were sung in the same style in which Elvis would have sung them. Ellis's Orion character claimed to have been managed by one Colonel Mac Weiman, and have been born in Ribbonsville, Tennessee on December 31, 1931. Listeners of Orion were initially split into two camps: those who knew that Orion was Jimmy Ellis just having some fun sounding like Elvis , and others who sincerely believed or wanted to believe that he was truly Elvis coming back on the scene after faking his own death. As Orion, Ellis reached Billboard's country chart with nine singles. A fine talent in his own right, Ellis recorded the song "I'm Not Trying" (Boblo 536) and the album By Request - Ellis Sings Elvis (Boblo 78-829) Ellis made a public confession in 1983 admitting he was Orion. He left Sun Records, never again appearing to the public as Orion. Death Ellis was gunned Down in His Alabama Pawn Shop December 12, 1998. He was standing before the display counter in his Jimmy's Pawn and Package Store just after noon Saturday when the gunman burst in and, in seconds, turned the quiet shop into a slaughterhouse. "Mr. Ellis never had time to do nothing or say nothing," Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman Jr. told APB News. "He just opened fire in seconds and hit Mr. Ellis in the side." After the first blast, which left the 53-year-old Ellis mortally wounded and crawling for safety, the gunman turned his weapon on the singer's 44-year-old ex-wife, Elaine Thompson, who was on a stool behind the counter. He fired once into her face, killing her instantly and hitting another worker, Helen King, in the hand. The gunman, who police believe is Plantersville resident Jeffery James Lee, then fired twice more in an attempt to blast Ellis a second time as he struggled to find a haven behind a computer desk, Huffman said. The shot missed, and then Lee allegedly turned his attention to the cash register, which he knocked off the counter after he could not open it, Huffman said. He then dropped the gun, fled the store and drove off in a car with two accomplices, authorities said. Huffman said King, who played dead, was treated and released from a hospital for her hand wound. Ellis died in his store about 10 minutes after the attack, Huffman said. Later that day, sheriff's deputies caught up with the two alleged accomplices, Andre Darren Lee, 19, who is the alleged gunman's brother, and Jerry Dewayne Johnson, 17, who is his cousin. Police later found Lee holed up in a motel about 30 miles outside Atlanta. All three are being held without bail and are facing the possibility of the death penalty on two counts of capital murder, authorities said. Discography Singles Albums * Released After Jimmy Ellis's death in 1999 Other Recordings These songs has appeared on other compilations or a collection of songs. * Released After Jimmy Ellis's Death References *''BlackCat Rockabily'', article by, Venezia, Todd at APB News. http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/orion.htm *''Elvis: His Life From A to Z'', by: Worth, Fred and Steve Tamerious. Copyright © 1990, Wings Books. *''Official Jimmy Ellis Website'', Copyright © Orion-Jimmy Ellis/TimeStar. http://www.orionjimmyellis.com *''The Strange and Ultimately Sad Story of Elvis Sound-Alike..."Orion", article by McCall, Michael. http://www.rockabillyhall.com/Orion1.html *''Worldwide Discography Of Jimmy "Orion" Ellis, http://web.archive.org/20021103040430/members.fortunecity.com/oriondiscs/index.html External Links *Jimmy Ellis's Official Site *Jimmy Ellis's Biography on Answers.com *Jimmy Ellis's Gravesite Info on Find A Grave